Star Trek: Picard (2022) – Hide and Seek, and Farewell

The penultimate episode of season two has some solid action beats, and some nice emotional arcs, and reminds us that these characters are flawed and human, and that is why we relate to them. There’s also a nice line that explains the appearance of Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) mother in The Next Generation episode Where No…

TIFF ’23: Concrete Utopia

Concrete Utopia from South Korea has its North American premiere here at TIFF, and this one is definitely a must-see. While arguably a little heavy-handed in its messaging, the film is a captivating two-hour exploration of the human condition, our faults, and our hopes. An apocalyptic event has struck Seoul, and it seems the only…

The Hollow Places (2020) – T. Kingfisher

The Hollow Places is a wonderfully creepy novel, laced with humour and pop culture references, and less than three chapters in I decided that I definitely needed to read more of T. Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon. We’re introduced to Kara, 34, newly divorced, and moving in with her Uncle Earl, taking up residence in a…

Hidden Pictures (2022) – Jason Rekulak

Jason Rekulak delivers a wonderfully creepy ghost story with Hidden Pictures. Filled with familiar ideas and tropes, Rekulak keeps it fresh with his engaging story, delightfully layered characters and the drawings that fill the novel. Mallory is fresh from rehab, she’s trying to get her life together, and with some help she lands a summer…

The Equalizer (1989) – Endgame, and Suicide Squad

Endgame is a tale of manipulation, and revenge, and seems to almost sneak up on the fringes of Saw territory, as the episode finds two sisters pitted against one another. Written by Coleman Luck, the penultimate episode of The Equalizer aired on 10 August, 1989, well after the season should have finished in May. McCall…

The Equalizer (1989) – Prisoners of Conscience, and The Caper

Even as the series closes in on its ending, we continue to get peeks into the character of Robert McCall (Edward Woodward), and this time he’s joined by his actual son, Tim Woodward, who takes on the role of McCall’s father, seen in flashbacks. Prisoners of Conscience was written by Robert Eisele and debuted on…

Imaginary Friend (2019) – Stephen Chbosky

Stephen Chobsky, perhaps currently best known as the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, gets his Stephen King on with his latest novel, Imaginary Friend, a tale of horror that pits a small town against itself in a battle of good versus evil. At the heart of the story is young Christopher, and…